Customer-driven transformation Groupe PSA

Groupe PSA, ranked as Europe’s second largest carmaker, has emerged from a process of a profound transformation, aiming at becoming a global car manufacturer on the cutting edge of efficiency. In the first half of 2018, the group achieved a record-breaking number of units sold globally, generating a 40 per cent increase in revenues. Pierre-Olivier Salmon, Head of Corporate Information, spoke about the company’s recent developments and its plans for the future.

Headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison, Groupe PSA is a French multinational manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles sold under the Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands. Peugeot is the largest PSA brand worldwide in Europe. Following a difficult period, in April 2014, one month after Carlos Tavares was appointed CEO, Groupe PSA launched a strategic plan to drive its turnaround and become profitable again. It was completed by end of 2015, ahead of schedule, and the ‘Push to Pass’ strategic plan launched in 2016 accelerated the positive transformation of the company.

“The deep transformation of the company, driven by a performance-oriented mind-set, has been the most notable achievement of the last few years. Coming from a near-death experience, the company is now becoming one of the most competitive and agile companies of the automotive Industry,” Mr Salmon affirms.

“In 2017, Groupe PSA bought Opel-Vauxhall’s business, which was regularly generating losses for years. The Opel-Vauxhall turnaround is now on track and results of the first half of 2018 show first positive figures and improvement in performance. This is just the beginning but again, there is evidence of a profound transformation driven by all teams.”

Stronger together

Mr Salmon pointed out that the success has been aided by solid partnerships – be it for the development of activities in new geographical areas (specifically in China and India), acquiring the best technologies from leading brands or partnerships on specific projects, aiming at enhanced offerings.

The value of partnerships has been duly recognised: on 26 June, for the 14th consecutive year, Groupe PSA awarded its suppliers at

its 2018 Supplier Excellence Awards ceremony. “The main objectives are to share the Groupe PSA Product, R&D and Purchasing Strategy with our partner suppliers and reward European and international suppliers fully engaged in the relationship with the group,” explains Mr Salmon. “The event was also an opportunity to praise the performance and industrial excellence of 16 supplier plants that meet the group’s quality requirements, from producing the vehicle to handing over the keys to the end customer.”

The awarded suppliers include: Aisin AW, SMP, Hutchinson Sealing, Mobis, KYB Corporation, Tata Consultancy Services, Orange Business Services, Mediacom, Haosen, Airtex Products SA, Freudenberg Filtration, A Raymond, Faurecia Clean Mobility, Modine, Plastic Omnium and GMD. embracing new developments

Staying ahead of market trends is one of the group’s competitive advantages. PSA is now rolling out its Autonomous Vehicle For All (AVA) programme that started in 2016 with driving assistance functions on the latest Peugeot, Citroën and DS models (level 1). “In 2018, we launched level 2 with the automated driving functions under driver supervision on DS 7 CROSSBACK. From 2020 onwards, new and progressively autonomous functions (level 3) will offer drivers the possibility of delegating driving to the vehicle without supervision,” affirms Mr Salmon.

Groupe PSA is also developing its Connected Vehicle Modular Platform (CVMP) and has developed a partnership with Huawei in order to roll out connected services for the whole PCD-OV range. The DS 7

Our history

SACIA was founded in 1990 in Nelas, Portugal, with the purpose of acting as a subcontracting coordination center for light industry manufacturing. SIleNCoR, the company that originated the now GRouP SACIA, was founded in 1982 and expanded from light metallurgy to the manufacture of parts and accessories for the automotive, home appliances and car radios. GRouP SACIA, unifies all the companies, into a cohesive whole capable of providing solutions to the most complex scenarios in sheet metal transformation and assembly. We permanently aim to broaden the range of customers and expand areas of presence, seeking to grow, within the expectations of our clients, through the guarantee of high levels of quality.

What we do GRouP SACIA is a supplier of products and components produced through the transformation and/or assembly of sheet metal components for automotive, home, etc.

STAmPING GRouP SACIA has a wide range of presses available, allowing us to work sheet metal of various types and thicknesses, through conventional or progressive dies.

WelDING In a section dedicated to welding, we work with the following technologies: mIG/mAG, Spot welding, RSW resistance spot welding, with manual or robotic lines. ASSemBlY We have, or can adapt, assembly lines with the flexibility to accept a broad range of products.

We can, in conjunction with the client, manage a Products lifecycle (Project, Develop, Improve). We follow the principles of Transparency, Cooperation, efficiency, Dynamism, and Quality. Respond, actively, to our customers to ensure their satisfaction and promote continuous improvement in processes and products.

CROSSBACK is the first Groupe PSA vehicle using this platform and equipped with Huawei technology. As Mr Salmon explains, new services for private customers and fleet managers will be regularly added to these features, and will include for example infotainment services, remote software updates and navigation mapping, as well as services useful for car hire companies, fleet managers and car sharing operators.

“Groupe PSA is also working on C-V2X technology towards 5G enabling communication between vehicles and their environment, enabling advanced performance for safety, traffic efficiency and autonomy. Some demonstrations have been done this year with Qualcomm,” he says, adding that other recent initiatives include the establishment of the Low Emission Vehicles Business Unit, aiming to respond to the challenges of the energy transition and to build an efficient and coherent offering of electric mobility solutions. “The new BU has a global scope and aims to deliver models that meet customer expectations, in line with the highest service standards.”

Digital transformation

Digital plays a central role in the group’s transformation as a key enabler. “There are several priorities in our development in the digital era. The first one is to increase our customer focus: ‘How do we make sure that customer is at the heart of our daily activities?’ To support this ambition, we decided to create a Customer Digital Factory in mid 2016. At the beginning of 2017 it started to deliver its first results. To make it short, the Customer Digital Factory is a digital production unit which builds and runs all digital products with a direct customer interaction, or which are used by our sales front-line: brands web sites, e-commerce platforms, apps, CRM tools,” Mr Salmon explains.

“At the same time our core product, the car, is entering the world of IoT. At the end of 2017 we decided to extend the concept of a factory to the connected services development and we created the connected services factory. We gathered all the staff from those two facilities, plus our date factory, in one physical place: a digital factory, installed right at the heart of our Poissy Car Factory. Immersing our digital factory in a metallic factory was a clear way to emphasize the importance of industrialisation, efficiency and quality for our digital production, as it has been the case now for years in the automotive industry.”

At the forefront

Along with the launch of 12 strategic digital programmes, the creation of the digital factory has been a strategic decision. “We are convinced that this digital transformation programme that put Customer, Connected Car and Agile Efficiency as top priorities will enable us to accelerate our deliberate move into the digital era,” says Mr Salmon.

Groupe PSA has been engrossed in its efforts to prove its industry-leading role, rigorously implementing the strategic Push to Pass plan (from 2016 to 2021) and at the same time pursuing PACE!, the turnaround plan for Opel/Vauxhall which has started showing significant results. On the geographical front, the company has been busy continuing to develop new business in all regions: a new joint venture with CK Birla Group to produce and sell vehicles and components in India by 2020, a partnership with Naza Corporation Holdings to establish a shared manufacturing hub in ASEAN, a 10-year progressive return project in North America, to name just a few of the on-going initiatives.

“As detailed in the Push to Pass strategic plan, Groupe PSA’s objective is to be a global carmaker with cutting-edge efficiency and a leading mobility provider sustaining lifetime customer relationships,” concludes Mr Salmon.